Greatness of Damodara

Vastrapatha Kshetra: Greatness of Damodara:

(Girnar Mahatmya)

• Meditation: I meditate on Lord Vishnu abiding in the Vastrapatha Kshetra.

• Greatness of Damodara: There was a king named Gaja. When he was getting old, he entrusted his kingdom to son, and went to dwell on the bank of river Ganga along with his wife. There came a sage named Bhadra with a large number of other sages. They bathed in river Ganga and meditated on its bank. The king invited them to his place. They agreed.

The king asked sage Bhadra the means to secure heaven beyond the miseries of worldly existence.

The sage told the king to worship the all-pervading Hrishikesha (Vishnu) and the various incarnations (Varaha, Vamana, Narasimha, Rama, Nara and Narayana etc.). The sage then mentioned about various holy places on the Earth (Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Himalayas, Nandana, Mandara, Varanasi, Prabhasa etc). Finally the sage told him about Damodara. The sage said that there is no use in visiting many holy places. By bathing in the Damodara lake, a man is freed from all sins. Those who take the name of Damodara and live anywhere, live in Hari's abode. In the vicinity of Somanatha, there is the Raivataka mountain. The river Vahni flows from the peak of Kanchana. There are minerals of various colours in that mountain which are searched by people. There are rocks of the size of elephants some like buffalos, some like grams etc. There are large number of trees, bushes and creepers and the Santana tree. Birds sing auspicious notes. There are also various animals like deers, monkeys and tigers. Whoever dies there, go to the abode of Vishnu in an aeroplane. Everyone gets liberated by the touch of the water of the river there. The river has come there from Patala cleaving the earth. Formerly, the king of serpents came to Damodara through that path to take a bath. The Moon had come from heaven to perform a grand sacrifice there and got freed from the disease of consumption. Bali, Harishchandra, Vidhi, Nala, Nahusha, Ambarisha and others came there to worship and gave away various gifts (of gold, land, elephants, cows, horses etc). If one gives away gifts in this place, go to the abode of Lord Vishnu. Therefore, one should go to the Raivataka mountain where Damodara dwells.

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